Operation Stardust
by Eiko Mizuno
Summary: a little girl stripped of her family at a young age has to adopt a mad scientist for a father figure, and stuggles in a war-torn world.
1. Default Chapter

PROLOUGUE:  
  
1 Colony L5, XX519  
  
A sinister breath of cold air gusted through the small city alley like the shadow of death itself. The foggy air continued its journey to a bar located in the colony slums. The bar was anything but clean, and the door was just as quiet as the air blew in behind a man standing at its open door. The stranger let the door bang shut as his trenchcoat fluttered around his ankles. Another, greasier man entered the bar from the door leading to the living area in the back, letting the first man grab a glimpse of the dingy background and empty clutter in the room beyond.  
  
"Hello" the filthy owner smiled, his voice raspy and harsh from the toils of poverty and hardship. "come to do me some buisness?"  
  
"Hm." the dark stranger replied indifferently. "If we are, we need to talk in a place more.private." The man hinted, tilting his head towards the silver briefcase in his left hand.  
  
"O-of course, we do!" the fleshy ball of oil jiggled as he laughed nervously. It was a strange, hollow, grating sound. It was an unnerving sound to hear. "Then let us go to the back, yes?" the manager sniveled.  
  
Hmph. victor thouhgt He is like a rat. A fat, greasy, oily, grubby, overstuffed rat!! Well, Well, my little rodent, where do you hide the cheese?  
  
"Here we go, Mr. Victor." The manager snapped him out of his thouhgts and humbly led him to a sparsely furnished room and sat him on a crate that served as a chair. The rest of the room consisted of two other "chairs", an extra storage crate, a mattress with two cotton blankets and some rumpled up newspaper for a pillow, and a crudely carved shelf. The stranger didn't bother examining any closer. He already knew what else was in the room, and in the room on the left hand door. Hmm, good work, victor old boy. You found the cheese Victor smirked evilly and turned his attentions back to the manager. "Stealing, is she?"  
  
The manager trembled at his words, and nodded his head before finally gaining the courage to point to the briefcase.  
  
"How much?"  
  
The stranger could see now that the man was trembling for want, not fear. Good, maybe he'll give me some trouble and grovel for it.I need some fun  
  
Just then, a little girl about two years old, with messy black hair and hazel eyes walked into the room wearing only a tattered, cotton, sleeveless dress. Her hair and body were in no better shape than her dress, but the layers of oil and grime did nothing to hide the joy and childish pride in her face and the way she held her body. Her eyes glistened and she thrust out her hands toward her father. The manager opened up her cupped hands and rifled through its possessions. "Good job, Shini." The manager crowed proudly as he stowed the crumpled up $50 , a penny, and a 14kt gold garnet ring, with a ruby as big as a rock. He discarded the actual rock and a rubber band and some paper that were of no use to him.  
  
"Down to buisness, then." Victor snapped, interrupting their intimate father-daughter moment, but he spoke on ruthlessly indifferent to their emotions. "I will give you this," Victor smirked as he opened the case and turned it toward the grubby eyes of the bar manager. "and a lifetime of protection an wealth.for your daughter."  
  
"I'm afraid not, Mr. Victor."  
  
"Excuse me?" Victor spluttered through his increasing rage. How could this have happened? He had thought that the ratball of a father would give anything away for what Victor could give him. Fine then, I'll just wait him out, he'll never be able to stay away forever..  
  
"No," the manager straightened up to his scant full height and pulled his bewildered daughter behind him. "Shiin-chan stays here, with me. I wont give up anything that easily, Victor. No matter what you think."  
  
Victor chuckled evilly, and watched the manager shiver as it rose to an evil creschendo. "You feel that way now, but you won't when I next see you again." He chuckled low and sinister in his throat as he stalked to the door. The father and the daughter shivered again as they heard their door bang shut and felt a grip of icy cold air swirled around them. Like the grip of death itself. thought the manager, right before he heard a muffled curse and a gunshot, then he ran...  
  
  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTE:  
  
I hope that you like it so far, it will be focused on the main character (Shini) until about the third chapter. I hope you still like it, and check out my account at Fanfiction.net (author's name Eiko Mizuno) and I hope you review!! ( you can also email me at eikomizuno01@gundamwing.net, or I.M.me at eikomizuno01 (aol)!!  
  
THANX, and i hope you like it ^-^!! 


	2. The blood of revolution

1.1 CHAPTER ONE  
  
2 Colony L2, XX519  
  
Shini Yorousei was almost three now, and as the youngest in her family, she had to mature quickly to preserve her insignificant life in this world where the only good she did was to steal from the less poverty stricken. She had realized the insignificance of her life on this rat- infested colony the night her mother died. Before her father had become bitter, drunken and silent, she had been able to ask him about her mother's death. He had told her that a very bad man shot her. A few nights after that conversation, he turned bitter and unfeeling towards anything but his drink and their money. Shini never believed him about her mother's death. She believed that he had killed her, and since the guilt was so cumbersome on his filthy shoulders, he had decided to lighten the burden with alcohol. Shini believed all this, she also thought that her father was a bad man, and a coward for choosing this path to relieve his guilt foe doing such an evil thing.  
  
She was probably biased against him, though, because her brother's influence on her caused her to look on him in a different light. You see, her brother was abusive, and she thought that he was truly bad. All her life, she had remembered him abusing her whole family, though less to her father, and doing it worse when rebuked for it. Since her mother had died, he probably felt a weight on his shoulders too, but it was the weight of responsibility and shame. Her brother also believed hat their father had killed their mother, and so believing that, he was forced to take on the responsibility of protecting his family, and then forced to provide for it when her father turned numb. He had never hurt anyone really bad, because her mother had stopped him from it, but when she died, there was no one to save her from his ministrations. He started doing it more and worse, and sometimes it was so bad she wanted to die or run away. Her middle brother stopped him from hurting her that badly by telling him that she would be good for nothing if she was dead. She respected her middle brother for that, and she promised herself that when she did run away, she would leave him a note with her last efforts.  
  
Shini did want to run away, from everything. She wished she could escape from the life of selling illegal things to people younger, and older than her, and she was tired of stealing from those same people who had enough money to pay for what she was selling. You would think that they should have enough money to live, but her father spent it all on booze and her brother couldn't stop gambling and 'doing business', whatever that meant. Shini felt so tired and depressed, and then the man came again, the man who was there with them the night her mother was killed. He walked through the front door while she was doing her best to make the bar look suitable.  
  
"Hello, Shini." the man addressed her without looking at her, "I must see your father, is he in?"  
  
"Yes, Mr. Victor, sir. Wait just a moment." she curtsied prettily, why she had no idea, but in the back of her mind she remembered the story her mother used to tell her when she was little. It was a silly little story about a princess and her prince charming. Her father had told her one night to curtsy whenever she wanted to please someone. He had told her that when he was drunk, of course, but she believed him, and she wanted to please Victor for some strange reason.  
  
"Thank you." Victor replied offhandedly. It had been nine months since the accident, and he was ready to end this charade, now. Damn the commander and damn the plan, he was going in, and this time he wouldn't fail. The accident with that stupid bitch the night of his failure had almost caused him to be expelled from the project. He still wished he hadn't had to kill the twit, but it had helped him enormously in the procedure of the plan.  
  
"Here he is, Mr. Victor, sir." She curtsied again, blushing at herself, and missing the strange look of ferocity in her father's eyes. She was too busy gazing adoringly at Victor.  
  
"Thank you, little Shin-chan." Victor chuckled as he ruffled her hair. Victor watched the little man squirm as he coddled his daughter. He reveled in the fury he caused the plump manager in calling Shini her father's pet name for her.  
  
Shini stared at Victor the whole time they talked. He was always so nice she thought. I would love to live with a nice man like that. Her mind jolted abruptly at such a blasphemous thought, but after puzzling over the idea, she found that it was true, and that she would love to be swept away like the princess in the tale. He could carry her away to a better life, and maybe an even better colony. She was in the middle of fantasizing of being taken away to earth when she was jolted out of her reverie by screams and shouting.  
  
"NO!! NEVER!! LEAVE US ALONE!!"  
  
What was wrong with her father? Victor was so nice, he would never do anything to hurt us. Shini watched dazedly as her father pulled out a gun from behind the bar and aimed it at Victor. No.. her mind whispered weakly Victor. He's gonna kill Victor, just like he killed mother. She had to do something to stop her father's madness. Shini was getting angry now. How could he do it again? Wasn't one killing enough? Can't he be satisfied? Why was he going to hurt Victor anyway?  
  
BAM!!!  
  
The shot rang out across the street and reverberated against her eardrums. Shini turned her head towards Victor, an expression of pure horror marring her childish face. That shot jarred her nerves and set her in motion. "NO!!" she screamed as she leapt on her father, grabbing his gun hand and trying to wrest the gun from his beefy fingers. In the confusion her father shot another bullet at Victor. She looked once again over to victor, moving in slow motion as she looked to where he was just as the third shot rang out. He was still standing, thankfully. Untouched. Then I noticed the look in his eyes, staring down at me. That's funny she thought. I should at least be eye level with him.. her confused mind worked frantically, and it seemed hours before she noticed how he was staring at her. What? What's wrong?. She looked down at herself, and found that she was three feet from her father, and blood was everywhere. Her blood. "Daddy.." she whispered," Daddy, how could you? How could you shoot me? How could you shoot me and Victor, like you killed mommy?" She was crying, tears streaming down her face. She covered her face in her hands and was engulfed in a spasm of coughing. When she removed her hands, she found a mixture of blood and salt tears. She tried to get up, and stumbled towards Victor. She screamed as she felt a flare of pain shoot up her leg. Ignoring the pain she felt would swallow her whole, she hobbled towards Victor. "Please.help me.." She tried to tell him, but consciousness became harder with every painful breath, "for.mother.." I pointed at my father, even though no one was listening. But Victor would help me, she thought as her father fell dumbstruck on the floor, everything still moving in slow- motion. I tried to stand up for a little while, to help Victor, just a little while longer, but I gave into the blackness when I heard Victor say..  
  
"I understand Shini, be strong"  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTE:  
  
Hey, everybody!! Hope you like chapter two!! Read and respond, and if you are confused, don't be too shy to ask!!  
  
Eiko Mizuno  
  
^-^ 


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